Customizing your own Dolls - a way to appreciate them even more!

Happy weekend, dollies!

Saturdays are often work days for me, but half of it and some part of Sunday were spent with family in a nice little resort nearby - the kids always loved swimming by the pool and having barbeque ;)

The past two work weeks, on the other hand, I finally tried repainting and rerooting my dolls. And I am so happy I did! Tamica, my first reroot (post here) was really adorable and I realized that if only we give extra time for our dolls, like customizing them, we find so much more value in our collection.

Ah... the joy of owning special dolls... #dollrepaint #ooakdoll #ooakbarbie #diy

A photo posted by Shasha 🌞 Ravacio (@ateliernishasha) on Jul 27, 2016 at 8:39pm PDT

My four successful repaints - Tamica, Lola, Ella and Aki - according to my standards LOL!

With the success I felt with my first try with Tamica, I went on with the second repaint and reroot candidate the next day. However, it was a sad mess because I forced myself to use the existing (very short to work with) hair she already had and add to that, tried doing a fringe - which is another sad story on its own.

Sometimes, we need to know when to stop. So I set this second doll aside,

and would rather create much better reroot and repaint plans with her for the future.

On the third day, I moved on and decided to work on Ella. I loved Ella's original faceup - she was a constant favorite in my photo shoots but I thought she would be even more special if she was OOAK.
After a day of painting and sketching, she's finally finished and was able to catch a good sunset lighting for her little photo shoot.

Ella, in her new, freckled face - note the mole just above her left brow

I love how more mature-looking she's become

... and sassier. Tee hee..

I was just overwhelmed in a positive way with the joy I felt after seeing my two repainted gals.

"I wanted to do more repaints!" -  I declared.

So on the following day, my fourth day focused on repaints, 

I went on and picked one of my Bambi MTM gals to give her some personality.

I love this mold but she has become too popular

and I wanted mine to be an OOAK.

Now named Lola, who was once unnamed in a corner because honestly,

I only bought the MTMs for their bodies.

Perhaps, repainting them would make them adorable, right?

Indeed, once I decided her repaint is already perfect for me,

I think Lola has become her own "woman" and is beyond adorable.

This sassy lady loves her new "personality"

Love this pose!

Sweet, but not too sweet...

And then came Friday, and my gal on queue was Briana or Bree.

At the end of the day, I loved how Bree looked

but there was something missing in her.

A photo posted by Shasha 🌞 Ravacio (@ateliernishasha) on Jul 21, 2016 at 11:52pm PDT

Lola (left) and Bree here in her first repaint, which looked cute but not as realistic-looking as the other gals

So I scheduled my Monday the next week retouching her, but everything went awry.

A photo posted by Shasha 🌞 Ravacio (@ateliernishasha) on Jul 25, 2016 at 12:18am PDT

Bree's eyes (especially the left one) were weird to me so I decided to repaint her again some other day

Bree's eyes went from looking like she's wearing a pair of dilated contact lens

 (which I didn't want) to just weird. 

I don't know how else to describe her eyes so I erased the second repaint I made

and I put her aside for another repaint date that I hope will turn out well.

With still a few hours left from that Monday,

I grabbed Aki who was another double I had.

She was easy to work with and 

Aki eventually became just as adorable as my other successful repaints.

Love Aki's innocent expression - totally different from the other three girls

Her simple pose added some mystery to her look...

I think she looks mysterious...

I have always wanted to see my dolls as unique in their own special ways.
But I have never felt this strong about repaints until I tried it.
Repainting my dolls renewed my excitement for my dolls even more.

I could just stare at them all day, really!
And having OOAK dolls also inspired me even more
to give them their own bedrooms, and maybe,
boyfriends!
Oh my gosh - it just doesn't stop there!

But for now, I'll just be wishing you guys an awesome rest-of-weekend,
and of course an even more creative work week ahead.

Let's continue to inspire each other!

dolly hugs,
shasha